Container and method of manufacture



Jan. 15, 1963 J. HENCHERT CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 10, 1957 INVENTOR BY Wm,

@572 Hencher? Jan. 15, 1963 J. HENCHERT 3,073,478

CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed May 10, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2E1 E4. Il E. 5-

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ATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1963 J. HENCHERT 3,073,478

CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed May 10. 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR 707m HWzc/E e7 2 F i/Ma ATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1963 J. HENCHERTCONTAINER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE INVENTOR W Jofihfi ehofiev'f w'bi m.MM

United States Patent v O CONTAINER AND THOD OF MANUFACTURE JohnHenchert, River Forest, 111., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc.,New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 10, 1957, Ser. No.658,404 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-67) This invention relates to a new andimproved container of the general type having a yieldable side wall andsheet metal end closures. Primarily, the invention relates to containersof this general type known as squeeze cans, in which a plastic containerside wall of polyethylene or the like is inwardly deformed by handpressure to discharge container contents through a nozzle and returns tonormal shape when relieved from pressure. drums and the like having sidewalls of fiber board or other yieldable material seamed to sheet metalend closures, may also be constructed in accordance with the invention.

The principal object of the invention has been to provide a new andimproved seam structure for tenaciously and fluid tightly connecting thesheet metal end members with the yieldable container wall without dangerof injuring said wall.

Each end closure is of cupped form and includes a closure disk, a sidewall (known as a chuck wall) and a peripheral skirt, an end of theyieldable container wall being tightly held between said chuck wall andsaid skirt.

In attaining an effective assembly of this character, another object hasbeen to provide the chuck wall with a reduced inner end merging smoothlyinto the closure disk and with a shoulder at the juncture of saidreduced end with the outer portion of said chuck wall, and to providethe free end of the skirt with an inwardly curled open head, said beadcooperating jointly with said reduced chuck wall end and said shoulderin holding the material of the container side wall under intensivecompression.

Another object has been to flare the aforesaid shoulder from the reducedchuck wall end to the outer portion of the chuck wall and to provide theskirt head of ovate form and with its inner wall substantiallyundirectional with the flare of said shoulder, providing two widenedsurfaces between which to clamp the yieldable container wall withoutinjury.

A further object has been to leave the aforesaid inner wall of the ovatebead free from contact with the adjacent portion of the skirt, to yieldduring seaming of the end closure onto the container wall and preventthe bead from injuring this wall.

The skirt is joined by a bight to the outer end of the chuck wall: and afurther object has been to gradually reduce the skirt diameter from saidbight to the midlength of the skirt and to similarly reduce the skirtdiameter from the bead to said mid-length, thus providing for furthercompressing the container side wall and increasing the efliciency of theseam.

Still further objects have been to provide a novel method forconstructing the end closure in readiness for seaming onto the containerwall, and a novel method for accomplishing the seaming.

Additional objects have been to provide a novel discharge nozzle, tomount this nozzle in an improved manner on the upper end closure, and toshape the lower end closure in a manner preventing the nozzle frominterfering with stacking of one container on another.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

However, I

3,073,478 Patented Jan, 15, 1963 In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a container constructed in accordancewith the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an upper end view.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail vertical section on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2,showing the seam.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views showing steps employed inmanufacturing the end closures.

FIGURES 6 and 7 are enlarged sectional views showing steps employed inseaming the end closures onto the container side wall.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly broken away and insection, showing two of the containers stacked without interference fromthe discharge nozzle.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing the nozzle andthe portion of the upper end closure to which it is connected.

- FIGURES 10 and 11 are enlarged sectional views showing other methodsteps which may be employed in manufacturing the end closures.

FIGURES 12 and 13 are views similar to FIGURES 6 and 7, showing themethod of seaming the end closure of FIGURE 11 onto the container sidewall.

In FIGURE 1, two sheet metal end closures E and E are connected by novelseams S to the ends of a cylindrical container side wall W formed frompolyethylene or other appropriate material. .The peripheral portions ofboth end closures E and E may be considered as of identical constructionand therefore illustration and description directed to the peripheralportion of the closure B will serve for both.

The closure B (see FIGURE 3) is of cupped form and embodies a disk 1, aside wall 2 (known as a chuck wall), anda peripheral skirt 3. The chuckwall 2 has an outer portion 4, a reduced inner end portion 5 merging at6 into the disk 1, and a flared shoulder 7 at the juncture of saidreduced end 5 with said major portion 4.

The skirt 3 surrounds and is spaced from the chuck wall 2 and one end ofsaid skirt 3 is integrally connected by a bight 8 with the outer end ofsaid chuck wall 2. The free end of the skirt 3 is curled inwardly at 9to provide a hollow bead 10 which is opposed to the reduced end 5 andshoulder 7 of the chuck wall 2. The head 10 is of ovate form in radialsection and the inner wall 11 of this bead is substantiallyunidirectional with the flare of the shoulder 7. The free edge 12 of thebead wall 11 is inwardly spaced from the adjacent portion of the skirt3.

From the bight 8 substantially to the mid-length 13 of the skirt 3, thisskirt is gradually reduced in diameter as shown at 14. The skirt is alsogradually reduced at '15 from the bead 10 to its mid-length 13. Theskirt por tion 14 diverges from the outer chuck wall portion 4 towardthe bight 8. Both diameter reductions 14 and 15 are preferably effectedon a curvature, as shown.

One end of the yieldable container wall W is received between the chuckwall 2 and the skirt 3. The ovate bead 10 .holds the wall portion 16intensively compressed against the reduced end 5 and the shoulder 7 ofthe chuck wall 2. The skirt 3 holds the wall portion" 17 tightlycompressed against the major portion 4 of said chuck wall 2, said wallportion 17 having a wedge formation conforming to the space between theskirt portion 14 and said major portion of said chuck wall 2. Aneffective leak-proof seam is thus provided between the end closure andthe yieldable container wall W. In this seam, the in- 3 may be employed,are illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5. As shown in FIGURE 4, a sheet metalblank 18 is shaped into cupped form in a die press, elements of thepress being shown at 19, 20, 21 and 22. The disk 1 and the chuck wallformations 4, 5, 6 and 7, above described, are shaped by the press andthe beaded skirt formation is started by providing the chuck wall 2 withan outwardly projecting flange 3a having a downwardly turned edge 10a.The flange 3a is joined to the chuck wall 2 by a bight 8a and isdisposed at a widely acute angle to said chuck wall.

The partially formed end closure of FIGURE 4 is transferred to a curlingunit (FIGURE 5) and the edge portion of the flange 3a is curled by saidunit to shape the ovate head 10, the free edge 12 of the inner bead wall11, however, being left in excessively spaced relation with the flange3a.

The curling unit may be of any conventional type and is shown asincluding a chuck 23 and a curling roll 24. This curling unit, inaddition to beading the edge of the flange 3a, bends this flange intoless acute angular relation with the chuck wall, as shown.

Operation of the curling unit completes the peripheral portion of theend closure in readiness for seaming onto an end of the yieldablecontainer wall W, the seaming steps being illustrated in FIGURES 6 and7. For illustrative purposes, the seaming means is shown as including achuck 25, a first-operation seaming roll 26 (FIGURE 6), and asecond-operation seaming roll 27 (FIGURE 7).

The first-operation roll 26 simply clinches the flange 3a sufficientlyto slightly embed the bead in the yieldable container wall W, as seen inFIGURE 6. The second operation roll 27, then converts the flange 3a intothe beaded skirt 3 above described, and so deforms the container wall asto provide it with 'the compressed portions 16 and 17, also describedabove. During the operation of the roll 27, the pressure exerted,somewhat closes the bead 10 but the inner wall 11 of said head yieldsunder the pressure to prevent it from injuring the container wall.

The central zone of the disk 1 of the upper end closure E is formed withan upwardly offset portion 28 (FIG- URES 2, 8 and 9) upon which adischarge nozzle 29 is mounted: and a captive cap 30 is provided forsaid nozzle, said cap being connected with said nozzle by a strap 31.The disk 1 of the lower end closure E, however, is domed as seen inFIGURE 8, to accommodate the nozzle and cap of a subjacent container,when one container is stacked upon another. The offset portion 28 andthe domed formation may be shaped at any time prior to seaming the endclosures onto the container wall, and any adequate means may be employedin such shaping.

The offset disk portion 28 .has a flat top 32 formed with a centralopening 33 and the metal at the edge of this opening is curled upwardly,outwardly and downwardly to provide said flat top with an upstandingbead 34 around said opening, as best seen in FIGURE 9, said bead beingcooperable with the base 35 of the nozzle 29 in fluid tightly mountingsaid nozzle on the end closure E.

The nozzle 29 is formed from a suitable plastic and has such resiliencyas to permit some distortion when applying it to the end closure and tothen cause return to normal shape. The lower side of the nozzle base 35is provided with an inner downwardly projecting wall 36 and with anouter downwardly projecting wall 37. These walls are continuous andconcentric and are spaced apart to form a channel 38 between them, saidchannel being shaped and dimensioned to snugly receive the head 34. Theinner wall 36 projects downwardly a greater distance than the outer wall37 and is provided on its outer periphery with an integral continuousrib 39, said rib having a downwardly flared upper side 40 for contactwith the inner lower portion of the bead 34. The rib 39 also has adownwardly tapered lower side 41, the lowermost diameter of which is nogreater than that of the opening 33.

In applying the nozzle to the end closure, the lower end of the innerwall 36 is placed for passage through the opening 33, the lower side 41of the rib 39 being then in contact with the upper inner portion of thehead 34. Then downward pressure is exerted on the nozzle base 35 whilethe container isheld against descent. The result is that the lower ribside 41 earns the inner wall 36 to such reduced diameter that the entirerib 39 may pass through the opening 33, whereupon the resiliency of saidinner wall restores it to normal diameter. As this restoration occurs,the lower end of the outer wall 37 comes solidly to rest upon the top 32of the offset 23. The upper rib side 46 then coacts with the lower innerportion of the head 34 to exert a downward camming action on the nozzlebase 35, thereby maintaining tight contact between the outer wall 37 andthe offset top 32 and also holding the bead 34 tightly seated in theconforming channel 38.

The cap 3? is formed from the same material as the nozzle 29 and isintegrally connected by the strap 31 with the base 35. The cap skirt 42is provided with a groove 43 and the nozzle 29 with a rib 44 receivablein said groove to normally hold the cap tightly closed. The resiliencyof the cap, however, allows the skirt to expand and clear the rib 44when the cap is pulled upwardly. When re-closing the cap, the rib 44cams the skirt 42 outwardly and it then returns to normal diameter witha snap action and holds the cap tightly closed. The skirt 42 and thenozzle 29 are slightly tapered for tight contact. Also, the cap has anintegral conical boss 45 to tightly close the nozzle discharge opening46. Thus, there is no danger of leakage.

Due to the mounting of the nozzle on the upwardly offset disk portion 28of the end closure E, no appreciable amount of liquid need remain in thecontainer, as said offset portion forms a sump or well when thecontainer is inverted, the last of the liquid will run into this sump orwell, and almost all of this liquid can be discharged through thenozzle.

Instead of following the method steps above described, somewhatdifferent procedure may be employed, as follows.

The blank 1 is cupped and provided with the formations 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7and with an outwardly projecting flange having a downturned outer edge.However, instead of disposing this flange at a widely acute angle to thechuck wall 2 as in FIGURE 4, it is disposed at a right angle to saidchuck wall. The downturned edge of the flange is then curled downwardlyand inwardly into substantially semi-circular form in radial sectioninstead of into the ovate form shown in FIGURE 5. The shaped unitthenhas the formation shown in FIGURE 10, in which the flange is denoted at3b and its curled edge at 9b. The procedure employed in producing thisflange 3b and its curled edge 9b may be substantially the same as thatemployed in providing a corresponding formation on a conventional canend closure. However, a conventional closure unit with this formation isin readiness for seaming onto a can wall, whereas further shaping stepsare performed to prepare the closure unit of the present invention forseaming onto the can wall. These additional steps consist of downwardlybending the flange 3b into acute angular relation with the chuck wall 2and bending the curl 9b into somewhat ovate form, as seen in FIG- URE11, a die press being employed to perform these operations.

The press comprises a lower die 59', a plunger die 51, and a third die52 slidably surrounding said plunger die, as seen in FIGURES 10 and 11.The lower die 50 has a horizontal surface 52 to support the peripheralportion of the disk 1 and an upstanding wall 54 surrounding said surface53, said wall 54 having a conical outer peripheral surface 55 and aradially narrow portion 56 projecting upwardly beyond said conicalsurface to engage the bend 8b which joins the flange 3b to the chuckwall 2. Internally, the wall 54 is shaped in approximate conformity withthe chuck wall 2. The plunger die 51 is similarly shaped externally andhas a lower end surface 57 to clamp the disk 1 against the surface 53.This die 5-1 also has a downwardly facing shoulder 58 to clamp the bend8b against the curved upper edge of the wall portion 55. The third die52 has a downwardly flared inner surface 59 to bend the flange 3bdownwardly and to coact with the conical surface 55 in bending the curl9b into ovate form as seen in FIGURE 11. Both surfaces 55 and 59 arepreferably at about 40 to the common axis of the dies.

The same press is employed for both the top and bottom end closures, andit will be, of course, understood that the nozzle mounting portions ofthe upper closures and the domed portions of the lower closures may beformed at any time prior to operation of said press upon said closures.

The completed closure unit is seamed onto the can wall W by means of aseaming machine which embodies a chuck 60, a first operation seamingroll 61 (FIGURE 12) and a second operation seaming roll 62 (FIGURE 13).These rolls have peripheral ledges 61a and 62a, respectively, tounderlie and contact with the curl 9a, thereby relieving the flexiblewall W of the downward thrust of the chuck 60 during the seamingoperations and also giving better control of the curl by preventing itfrom creeping downwardly out of proper relation with the shoulder '7during said operations,

The first operation roll 61 clinches the flange 3b sufiiciently toslightly embed the head in the yieldable container wall and inwardlydeform this wall somewhat, as seen in FIGURE 12. The second operationroll 62 then converts the flange 312 into the beaded skirt 3 abovedescribed. During the operation of this roll, the pressure exerted,further closes the curl 9b and embeds the bead 10 in the wall W but theinner bead wall 11 yields under the pressure to prevent it from injuringsaid side wall. The complete assembly has the compressed portions 16 and17 previously described: and the same tenacious and leak-proof unionbetween side wall and end closure exists.

The provision of the sump or well in the container top closure anddefined by the offset disk portions 28 and 32 provides a markedadvantage in permitting a discharging of all of the liquid from thecontainer in the manner previously described. If desired the top portion32 herein shown flat may even be shaped at an upwardly and inwardlysloping angle, say of fifteen degrees, thereby to additionally assurethe discharging of virtually all of the liquid collecting in the sump orwell when the container is inverted.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel provision has been madefor attaining the desired ends.

I claim:

1. In a container, an end closure having a closure disk and a chuck wallconnected therewith; said chuck wall having an outer portion ofsubstantially uniform diameter, an inner end portion of reduced diameterand merging inwardly to said disk, and a shoulder at the juncture ofsaid outer portion with said reduced inner end portion; said end closurealso having a peripheral skirt and a bight connecting one end of saidskirt to said outer portion of said chuck wall, the free end of saidskirt being curled inwardly and forming a hollow bead opposed to saidreduced inner end and said shoulder of said chuck wall, the diameter ofsaid skirt being gradually decreased from said bight and said bead towall disposed below said end closure, said container wall having anintensively compressed portion held by said bead against said shoulderand said reduced end of said chuck wall, the curled end of said skirtafter forming said hollow bead terminating in spaced relation with theadjacent portion of said skirt for yieldable contact of said head withthe container wall, said container wall having a second compressedportion resiliently held between the diverging portions of said chuckwall and skirt and conforming thereto with the upper portion of saidcontainer wall being of a Wedge shaped cross section.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; the bead being of ovate form inradial section; said shoulder being flared from said reduced end of saidchuck Wall to said outer portion of said chuck wall, the flare of saidshoulder being substantially unidirectional with the inner side of saidovate bead.

3. A container end closure for seaming to one end of a yieldablecontainer wall, said closure having a closure disk and a chuck wallconnected therewith; said chuck wall having an outer portion ofsubstantially uniform diameter, an inner end portion of reduced diameterand merging inwardly to said disk, and a shoulder at the juncture ofsaid outer portion with said reduced inner end portion; said end closurealso having a peripheral skirt and a bight connecting one end of saidskirt to said outer portion of said chuck wall, the free end of saidskirt being curled inwardly and forming a hollow bead, said skirt beingin diverging relation with said chuck wall to permit easy reception ofan end of the container wall between said skirt and said chuck wall,said skirt being of such length that said bead will compress thecontainer wal-l against said reduced end and shoulder of said chuck wallwhen said skirt is inwardly clinched,

, the cur ied end of said skirt after forming said hollow ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,901,266 SebellMar. 14, 1933 1 1,929,339 Troyer et al. Oct. 3, 1933 2,169,864 AumentAug. 15, 1939' 2,188,497 Calva Jan, 30, 1940 2,296,550 Williams Sept.22, 1942 2,315,250 Eilers Mar. 30, 1943 2,343,006 Gibbs Feb. 29, 19442,349,037 Gibbs May 16, 1944 2,362,421 Von Til Nov. 7, 1944- 2,428,371Kinberg Oct. 7, 1947 2,455,737 Coyle Dec. 7, 1948 2,467,182 Beattie Apr.12, 1949 2,530,253 Maged et al Nov. 14, 1 950 2,587,840 Gruetjen Mar. 4,1952 2,643,627 Wobbe June 30, 1953 2,753,088 Prahl July 3, 19562,804,988 Dobbins Sept. 3, 1957

1. IN A CONTAINER, AN END CLOSURE HAVING A CLOSURE DISK AND A CHUCK WALLCONNECTED THEREWITH; SAID CHUCK WALL HAVING AN OUTER PORTION OFSUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM DIAMETER, AN INNER END PORTION OF REDUCED DIAMETERAND MERGING INWARDLY TO SAID DISK, AND A SHOULDER AT THE JUNCTURE OFSAID OUTER PORTION WITH SAID REDUCED INNER END PORTION; SAID END CLOSUREALSO HAVING A PERIPHERAL SKIRT AND A BIGHT CONNECTING ONE END OF SAIDSKIRT TO SAID OUTER PORTION OF SAID CHUCK WALL, THE FREE END OF SAIDSKIRT BEING CURLED INWARDLY AND FORMING A HOLLOW BEAD OPPOSED TO SAIDREDUCED INNER END AND SAID SHOULDER OF SAID CHUCK WALL, THE DIAMETER OFSAID SKIRT BEING GRADUALLY DECREASED FROM SAID BIGHT AND SAID BEAD TOTHE MID-LENGTH OF SAID SKIRT AND PROVIDING THIS SKIRT WITH A PORTIONWHICH DIVERGES FROM SAID OUTER PORTION OF SAID CHUCK WALL TOWARD SAIDBIGHT; AND A YIELDABLE CONTAINER WALL HAVING ONE END CONFINED BETWEENSAID CHUCK WALL AND SAID SKIRT, THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE OUTER PORTIONOF SAID CHUCK WALL BEING ALIGNED WITH THE INNER SURFACE OF THE MAINPORTION OF SAID CONTAINER WALL AND THE UPPER PART OF SAID CONTAINER WALLENGAGED WITH SAID CHUCK WALL OUTER PORTION BEING ALIGNED WITH THE PARTOF SAID CONTAINER WALL DISPOSED BELOW SAID END CLOSURE, SAID CONTAINERWALL HAVING AN INTENSIVELY COMPRESSED PORTION HELD BY SAID BEAD AGAINSTSAID SHOULDER AND SAID REDUCED END OF SAID CHUCK WALL, THE CURLED END OFSAID SKIRT AFTER FORMING SAID HOLLOW BEAD TERMINATING IN SPACED RELATIONWITH THE ADJACENT PORTION OF SAID SKIRT FOR YIELDABLE CONTACT OF SAIDBEAD WITH THE CONTAINER WALL, SAID CONTAINER WALL HAVING DIVERGINGPORTIONS OF SAID CHUCK WALL AND SKIRT AND CONFORMING THERETO WITH THEUPPER PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER WALL BEING OF A WEDGE SHAPED CROSSSECTION.